DaVa FC-A1 a field coil contender

[cmchan]

Many thanks to Leif for starting this thread and everyone who has contributed. I ordered the Dava Reference on 10 Aug'22 from Hong Kong and received 27 Dec'22 delivered to my new home in Tokyo on schedule. I think it sounds amazing straight out of the box (very organic, great highs but also with lots of presence and body) - VTF 3.5g; on Durand Tosca tonearm and OMA Techincs TT - Kondo KSL-SFz (I think about 1:60 setting) - EMT JPA 66 Mk3 (input 4 at 2x47K = 94K load); PSU with Telefunken EY500 from Darius set at 11V. Still busy unpacking from recent move but will eventually try on AF Garrard 301 Statement TT and MS SX8000 Mk1 on different tonearms (Glanz MH-124S, AS Axiom, Dynavector DV 507 Mk2). Look forward to pleasant surprises during burn-in. Suggestions welcomed. David

 

[bonzo75]

Many thanks to Leif for starting this thread and everyone who has contributed. I ordered the Dava Reference on 10 Aug'22 from Hong Kong and received 27 Dec'22 delivered to my new home in Tokyo on schedule. I think it sounds amazing straight out of the box (very organic, great highs but also with lots of presence and body) - VTF 3.5g; on Durand Tosca tonearm and OMA Techincs TT - Kondo KSL-SFz (I think about 1:60 setting) - EMT JPA 66 Mk3 (input 4 at 2x47K = 94K load); PSU with Telefunken EY500 from Darius set at 11V. Still busy unpacking from recent move but will eventually try on AF Garrard 301 Statement TT and MS SX8000 Mk1 on different tonearms (Glanz MH-124S, AS Axiom, Dynavector DV 507 Mk2). Look forward to pleasant surprises during burn-in. Suggestions welcomed. David

wow what an amazing toy house to experiment with the Dava. Respect

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Many thanks to Leif for starting this thread and everyone who has contributed. I ordered the Dava Reference on 10 Aug'22 from Hong Kong and received 27 Dec'22 delivered to my new home in Tokyo on schedule. I think it sounds amazing straight out of the box (very organic, great highs but also with lots of presence and body) - VTF 3.5g; on Durand Tosca tonearm and OMA Techincs TT - Kondo KSL-SFz (I think about 1:60 setting) - EMT JPA 66 Mk3 (input 4 at 2x47K = 94K load); PSU with Telefunken EY500 from Darius set at 11V. Still busy unpacking from recent move but will eventually try on AF Garrard 301 Statement TT and MS SX8000 Mk1 on different tonearms (Glanz MH-124S, AS Axiom, Dynavector DV 507 Mk2). Look forward to pleasant surprises during burn-in. Suggestions welcomed. David

congrats ......smart move to order as the waiting list is up to next october
D says suspension needs about 20+ hours to loosen up
just enjoy......
I just received Miles Davis / Gil Evans complete Colombia studio recordings on Mosaic records now and the Reference in IKEDA IT407 does a great job

 

[kodomo]

My DAVA Reference cartridge has arrived. I am waiting for my bokrand arm made for dava and then I will set them up on the 301. It may take up to a month. I already got a ss supply and a tube supply is on its way being built, waiting for transformers from Muse Coils (guy who builds for thrax).

I was going to mount on Sony ps-x9 but I also got a Sony xl88d-custom so that will be that.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

great news....

 

[bonzo75]

I was sent 2 sets of 4 tracks, as a blind test.

One set was playing DaVa on Oma Technics + Glanz + DaVa, another was Garrard 301 + Durand Tosca + DaVa.

One set had much better flow, nuance, drama, musicality, more weight and authority. The other set was stop start from the first note.

Apparently what I preferred was the 301 + Durand Tosca. I heard the Tosca + DaVa at Mike's of course, but seriously these two are great together.

It was feeding through Kondo KSL SUT into EMP JPA 66 phono

 

[defride]

I was sent 2 sets of 4 tracks, as a blind test.

One set was playing DaVa on Oma Technics + Glanz + DaVa, another was Garrard 301 + Durand Tosca + DaVa.

One set had much better flow, nuance, drama, musicality, more weight and authority. The other set was stop start from the first note.

Apparently what I preferred was the 301 + Durand Tosca. I heard the Tosca + DaVa at Mike's of course, but seriously these two are great together.

It was feeding through Kondo KSL SUT into EMP JPA 66 phono

Heard another report a while back that Technics, metal plinth (in their case SP1000r) & Glanz is not a difficult match. Can't remember which carts but a number were tried

 

[bonzo75]

My DaVa reference cart is now ready and is shipped to a compare with my top choice, the Vyger red sparrow (which requires the arm cart synergy), then will go to play on one of my favorite systems, Misho's Altec 817, to see how the combination sounds. Against Vyger it will be on a Techdas AF3p with either the Ikeda or the 3012r tonearm, whichever works better. Various SUTs and phono combos are planned. Let's see how it goes will take a couple of months to sort the travel and listening out.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

welcome to the club

 

[djsina2]

You should buy a turntable someday.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

You should buy a turntable someday.

don´t push it

 

[bonzo75]

This is a very interesting post for me because of the coincidence.

In 2016, on facebook, Misho (whose Altec 817 I love and who is a vintage genius) posted that his friend Eugene Komissarov's 2002 design was used by Trafomatic and published in 6 moons without credit to Eugene. In the comments below on the Facebook link Sasa of Trafomatic acknowledges that and corrects the error.

Eugene is the brain behind DaVa designs and Darius is his mentee and builds his designs. I did not know Eugene and Misho were friends but am kicked my search led me to two old hands and geniuses who respect each other and share ideas

The main reason I put this here, is because when people from Eastern Europe are not on WBF, there is a perception that it is some small guy who came up with an idea yesterday. Same thing happened in Lampi Lukasz's early days, people thought some small Polish guy, even when his Big 7 was sonically the best dac out there. Today Lampi has flooded WBF and the west.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

Eugene was also involved in high end Russian set ups, including this one

What are the Top Horn Speakers in the World Today? Vox Olympian vs Avantgarde Trio vs ???

As I have stated previously, while I have not heard the Symphonia's and am sure they are special, the Destination Audio Vista's treated me to a truly unforgettable musical experience. A must hear in top end horn systems. Most intrigued by reading/posting with Fred Crane about the Destination...

www.whatsbestforum.com

Eugene

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

very true Ked.......there´s some really innovative guys in the "east block" and Eugene has lots of stuff going on.....
in many ways they are less commercial and more down to earth in their business model as well

 

[mtemur]

IMHO directly copying DaVa designer’s schematics and presenting as his design without mentioning original designer’s name is stealing.

On the other hand I don’t know inside out those DaVa designs but I wonder what is unique about them?

- DaVa field coil cartridge is not the first field coil cartridge. Did they give credit to prior designers?
- RIAA pre amp looks like a tube based design. Is there really something special about it?
I don’t know I’m just asking? IMHO DaVa products may be considered good craftsmanship but not innovation.

 

[bonzo75]

IMHO directly copying DaVa designer’s schematics and presenting as his design without mentioning original designer’s name is stealing.

On the other hand I don’t know inside out those DaVa designs but I wonder what is unique about them?

- DaVa field coil cartridge is not the first field coil cartridge. Did they give credit to prior designers?
- RIAA pre amp looks like a tube based design. Is there really something special about it?
I don’t know I’m just asking? IMHO DaVa products may be considered good craftsmanship but not innovation.

He copied the circuit with its values. If you click on the link entire details of circuit, values, valves used is published there. So there might not be something unique about Audio Research design, but if you create exactly same preamp with same valves and values it is a copy, does not matter if CJ or AR is unique. They are not unique yet independent designs different from each other. If you take Wilson speaker and use same drivers and crossovers it is a copy - there might not be something unique about cone, planar, horn or electrostat designs, but you do not copy same values.

The above discussed was not a DaVa design, it (the design) was from 2002 and I assume would be one of the precursors. Regarding current DaVa phono (which I have not yet heard), it is a no cap no resistor design, only 4 inductor transformers. I have no idea yet how it sounds, will find out shortly, and I have no idea if the 2002 design was any way similar. The details are in that link as is Trafomatics acknowledgement to correct it in 6 moons review.

 

[mtemur]

Regarding current DaVa phono (which I have not yet heard), it is a no cap no resistor design, only 4 inductor transformers. I have no idea yet how it sounds, will find out shortly, and I have no idea if the 2002 design was any way similar. The details are in that link as is Trafomatics acknowledgement to correct it in 6 moons review.

Audio Tekne makes tube phono stages with transformers (without resistors and capacitors) for a long time. I haven’t heard it yet but it’s highly praised by people who have heard.

 

[mtemur]

He copied the circuit with its values. If you click on the link entire details of circuit, values, valves used is published there. So there might not be something unique about Audio Research design, but if you create exactly same preamp with same valves and values it is a copy, does not matter if CJ or AR is unique. They are not unique yet independent designs different from each other. If you take Wilson speaker and use same drivers and crossovers it is a copy - there might not be something unique about cone, planar, horn or electrostat designs, but you do not copy same values.

I have no objection to that. I agree it’s stealing that’s why I wrote in my prior post this:

IMHO directly copying DaVa designer’s schematics and presenting as his design without mentioning original designer’s name is stealing.

It’s short but I meant it’s stealing from DaVa or Eugene Comissarov. I didn’t mean DaVa is stealing.

 

[bonzo75]

Audio Tekne makes tube phono stages with transformers (without resistors and capacitors) for a long time. I haven’t heard it yet but it’s highly praised by people who have heard.

EMIA is LR, not LCR. I have heard the lower model Audio Tekne for 20k, it was quite dark and sluggish and colored compared to Thrax and FM 123. Gian said for audio tekne for quality you have to go for their top models which are very expensive. I have heard one of their amps at Pietros, driven by a Sakuma preamp (made by Sakuma himself, not based on a Sakuma design). But was not impressed, at Pietro's it was Yamamura all the way.

 

[mtemur]

I have heard the lower model Audio Tekne for 20k, it was quite dark and sluggish and colored compared to Thrax and FM 123

I heard Thrax and FM 123 too. I found them a little bit bright in general but I like Thrax more though. I didn't like Ypsilon BTW.

 

[bonzo75]

I heard Thrax and FM 123 too. I found them a little bit bright in general but I like Thrax more though. I didn't like Ypsilon BTW.

Yes I found Allnic 7000 preferable to Ypsilon with Lyra Atlas using Ypsilon SUT, once the Allnic rectifier was rolled. Ypsilon marginally more high, but Allnic better musical energy and midbass. The Thrax was better than FM 123 and both were better than the Audio Tekne 20k model. That was Thrax mk1. Now there is Thrax mk2 which is much better and is really good.